Will Zimbabwe Ever Get Better? (20)

Unity agreement doesn't slow exodus of Zimbabweans By DONNA BRYSON, Associated

Press Writer
26 minutes ago



MUSINA, South Africa - A power-sharing deal has not stopped the flow of

Zimbabweans streaming into South Africa to escape the hunger and poverty wrought

by runaway inflation in their homeland.



About 1,000 Zimbabweans seeking asylum formed a line that snaked across a

packed-dirt parking lot in this South African border town Tuesday. Many had been

waiting for days to file their applications.

Some said they feared President Robert Mugabe was still in a position to unleash

violence on his enemies. Others said that while they found hope in the agreement

signed Monday, they did not expect Zimbabwe's economic crisis to be quickly

resolved.

Under the pact, Mugabe remains president and head of government. Morgan Tsvangirai

is prime minister-designate and will head a new Council of Ministers responsible

for forming government policies.

Observers worry that rather than resolution, the agreement heralds government

paralysis.

In Musina, asylum seekers waited restlessly in a lot dotted with ash left over

from the previous night's fires and lengths of cardboard used as mattresses.

Children gathered around a blackened paint pot balanced over a fire to await a

breakfast of corn meal porridge and milk.

Robin Mucheana reached South Africa on Saturday and was still waiting Tuesday to

have his application processed.

For 15 years, Mucheana grew oranges, guavas, avocados and vegetables on a small

farm in Chitungwiza, south of Harare. This year, with official inflation the

highest in the world at 11 million percent, he could not afford seedlings, seeds

or fertilizer. He and his wife resorted to selling vegetables on the streets, but

were barely making enough to feed themselves and their three children.

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"In the morning, you wake up with bread selling at 8 trillion (Zimbabwe dollars),

at 5 in the evening you get it at 10 trillion. And tomorrow, again, new prices,"

he said. "The hunger is the main issue. Some people are even dying."

The International Red Cross estimates more than 2 million people are hungry in

Zimbabwe, and that the number is going to rise to 5 million, about half the

country's population, by year's end.

Some aid groups estimate that in recent weeks as many as 6,000 Zimbabweans have

been crossing into South Africa every day. Many go back within a few days carrying

groceries and other essentials that are scarce at home.

But there has also been a spike in those seeking refugee status.

While most are men, more and more women and children were coming, said Alexis

Moens, an official with Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has been providing medical

care for Zimbabweans and other immigrants in Musina.

"My feeling is that now more women and children are coming than before (because)

the situation is getting a bit more desperate," she said.

High prices aren't the only reason Zimbabweans are struggling. The last harvest

was poor, and Mugabe's government restricted the work of aid agencies in June,

accusing them of siding with the opposition before a presidential runoff. The ban

was lifted last month, but aid agencies say it takes time to gear up.

"People are eating berries, people are eating roots, people are eating anything

they can get their hands on," said James McGee, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe.

"We're seeing it all over the country."

McGee added the political violence that followed elections in March and sent many

Zimbabweans fleeing across the border has subsided, but not completely

disappeared. He said there were signs of tension in areas where the deaths of

parliamentary candidates or other issues meant new votes would have to be held.

Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in March presidential elections and his party also

out-polled Mugabe's in parliamentary voting. But Tsvangirai did not win the simple

majority needed to avoid a runoff. An onslaught of state-sponsored violence forced

Tsvangirai to withdraw from the second election, and Mugabe was declared the

winner in a vote widely denounced as a sham.

More than 100 Tsvangirai supporters were killed, thousands were beaten, and tens

of thousands were forced from their homes.

Richard Zuza, a pastor in Zimbabwe's capital of Harare, said the agreement was a

start. But he was also in line for asylum Tuesday, as he had been for four days.

He was fearful of returning because he said new elections were being held in his

area and he had been counseling his congregation not to vote for Mugabe's party.

He said he wanted details on the agreement, such as whether Tsvangirai's party or

Mugabe's would get the ministries overseeing police and the army, two institutions

accused of fomenting violence against Mugabe's opponents.

"If they don't give Mr. Tsvangirai those soldiers, I don't think anything can

change," he said. "Mugabe must resign. Then everything will be all right."

Might guarantee an open Civil War.
Doubt if that Old Codger will give in just like that.

Last week Berlusconi paid Gaddafi . . Mugabe may think this can become 'the trend'.